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First Look

Armory of the Ukraine has released a number of very nice detail sets, this one tackling an important detail on modern Soviet combat aircraft - the UB-32 rocket pod. These distinctive looking pods are carried by a wide range of Soviet-era combat aircraft and helicopters. In fact, the most heavily armed helicopter of its day was the Mi-8TB and it carried six of these pods.

The full designator is UB-32-57 which is a 32-shot rocket pod for the standard 57mm S-5 rocket. This gave the Mi-8TB 192 rounds to fire, usually in groups or salvos. You will also have seen smaller versions of these pods and that is the UB-16-57 for the 16-shot version.

The pod was a simple affair, three rings of rockets with the outer ring containing 16 rockets alone. The rear of the pod was a hollow cone that served as a blast shield to protect the aircraft from the initial ignition of the rockets.

Armory has captured the UB-32 pods quite nicely with a pair of pods provided in this set. The forward sections of the pods are cast in resin while the rear of the pods with the ignition wires and the rear shrouds are provided as photo-etch.

These pods will definitely add to the look of your next Soviet or Warsaw Pact combat aircraft project, especially when folks see these pods from the rear!

You can purchase Armory products from a number of online stockists as well as directly from their online store.